Stephen Ross: Obviously, the report is deeply disturbing

Posted by Michael David Smith on February 14, 2014, 7:40 PM EDT

AP

When the report about bullying on the Dolphins was released on Friday morning, owner Stephen Ross asked for time to review the matter. Now Ross has reviewed the matter, and he acknowledges that his franchise looks bad.

“I now have had a chance to read the report and obviously, the language that was used and the behavior as described is deeply disturbing,” Ross said in a statement released on Friday evening. “Although the report commended Joe Philbin’s commitment to promoting integrity and accountability throughout the Dolphins organization, I told Ted Wells personally during my visit with him that we are committed to addressing the issues outlined in this report. We must work together towards a culture of civility and mutual respect for one another. It is important to me, important to Coach Philbin and important to the entire Dolphins organization.”

Ross’s lengthy statement, however, is short on specifics about how he feels about the individuals named in the report. In fact, Ross’s statement says nothing at all about Jonathan Martin, the player who left the team last season because of harassment from his teammates. Ross’s statement also says nothing at all about Richie Incognito, Mike Pouncey or John Jerry, the three players the report cites as abusing Martin, another unnamed player and a team trainer. And Ross’s statement says nothing about offensive line coach Jim Turner, who looks very bad in the report.

So while Ross says in his statement that “I have made it clear to everyone within our organization that this situation must never happen again,” Ross doesn’t say whether “everyone within our organization” will continue to include some of the people who mistreated Martin.

Is everyone forgetting that these men are paid millions of dollars to physically push around other men.. yet Martin couldn’t or wouldn’t against middle of the road type guys like Incognito and Pouncey.. what the heck would Martin do against a man named SUH?

Philbin seems like a nice enough guy and has endured a terrible family tragedy. And did so admirably. But I have a hard time understanding why he could be so out of touch with his own locker room. He let the worst of the inmates run the asylum. He has to go. There is no other choice. That report is damning and it goes all the way to the head coach and beyond.

Martin and his lawyer parents are scumbags. Here’s a guy that couldnt cut it on the field, so he brings in a lawsuit as he is out the door. Playing a victim , when he was just as guilty as everyone else.

Fire the offensive line coach he doesn’t deserve to keep his job anyway. Outside of that, John Jerry and Incognito are gone anyway. Pouncey is not going anywhere because he produces and that, my friends, is what this is about, production. If Martin was a baller half that line would have been suspended.

Am I the only one who was not at all surprised about the language and stuff that goes on in that locker room??

I’ve never been in an NFL locker room, but I find it hard to believe that I have a better grasp of what goes on in there more than their owner.

My guess is he wasn’t really surprised, but what else was he gonna say? “Yea, I knew all that junk goes on in there, but its just part of being in the NFL locker room. He has to act appalled in case of workplace lawsuits

Martin was in a position where his line coach and the Dolphin “leadership” counsel supported bullying. He had nowhere to go. Martin reported harassment at the earliest time he could. The report supports the claim. The Dolphins will face charges of retaliation if they cut him. Does anyone think Mr. Ross has incompetent lawyers? Choices for the Dolphins are to keep Martin (and Pouncy’s presence makes that impossible); to trade Martin (best answer); or to cut Martin (watch the lawsuit on retaliation and an attack on the anti-trust exemption if Martin loses a dime or is not picked up for at least the same salary he is scheduled to earn). The Dolphins may be facing @ $20 million plus suit if Martin’s career is over. Mr Ross loves Coach Philbin? How does a head coach not know about the toxic situation that could seriously damage the club? How does Coach Philbin keep his job? Coach Philbin gave Icognito and Pouncy a free hand by naming them to the “leadership” counsel. Time for accountability.

Jerry/Incognito are free agents and are gone, possibly will face more suspension, and Incognito will probable be forced into some sort of anger management class

Jim Turner will likely be fired, Pouncey will possibly get cut but more likely suspended for 2-4 games, and the Dolphins will be fined a token 200k for no particular reason other than for the NFL to mete some form of punishment

Ross will announce some former player(s) will serve as an independent leadership committee for all future grievances.

Martin was asked to be released, which the Dolphins will grant and he will catch on elsewhere to resume his mediocre play

Martin “left the team”? If we are now applying “workplace” laws to football, what he did was walk off the job in the middle of a shift and fail to return. That’s a terminable offense, not one that allows you to become a hero of the liberal media while maintaining your multi-million dollar salary!

I’m not going to simply be quite and allow racist comments to be made. I’m a black man and when this frist started I didn’t think it was about race I thought it was about Martin’s sexuality. And, even after I found out that it wasn’t a sexuality issue I still stood in the corner with RI but once it turned out that some of the other players were black it seems like there are post which are trying to assign blame to the black players. Like brooklyn40niner. It’s real simple RI was the leader of this and the other players followed. Now, none of them are beyond blame. So, they should all be punished equally. At the same time RI as never shown himself to be a upstanding guy.

Philbin seems like a stand up guy from what i saw on hard knocks. I guess its just crazy to think 20 – 30 year old men could handle themselves in the locker room i guess. I guess most you clowns think coaching just stops on the field. I gurantee same things happen in other locker rooms just the dolphins got a weak person in theirs that can’t stand up for himself. The media loves it because “bullying” is the hot topic. Martin is weak.

Lol, peole continue to defend a man who molested a woman on a gold course, assaulted jmart, racially harassed a Japanese assistant and disrespected his heritage, and that’s not even half of it. Then these same peole will say everyone else is ruining america.

For all of these neanderthals who think Martin is somehow in the wrong, what the about the girl at the golf tournament Incognito assaulted and the assistant trainer who had to put up with all that racist crap and all the others we don’t even know about that these scumbags harassed? Should they have punched those guys in the face too and stood up for themselves?

Incognito has a history of anti-social behavior everywhere he’s been dating back to college. Sorry folks, him and his kind are the problem, not the ones they’re harassing.

The days of allowing anything goes in a locker room are gone. It is now an official workplace, wouldn’t be shocking if the league assigns ” locker room monitors” to each team.

At some point advertisers/sponsors are going to walk away. Right now baseball and basketball are better for in arena/stadium dollars. More games, more New fans, more opportunity to maximize your exposure.

NFL has to do something to change the direction of the image that is being created.

……..and everyone knew, but didn’t want to admit it (because he’s the only decent offensive lineman they have), but when Pouncey came out and supported Aaron Hernandez, we all knew the other shoe was gonna drop. You’re not wired right if you’re publicly supporting a guy who just killed at least one someone.

I used to work at Best Buy corporate headquarters. One day a VP forwarded an ebonics joke via email to his wife. The joke email had a virus in it and the ebonics joke was sent it to 600 people within Best Buy. The guy left the building within an hour, and was fired the next day. And that was trivial compared to this. If Ross is serious about this, lots of heads roll. His actions will speak much louder than his words.

You are 100% right, Ross has nothing else he can say because that is how things are in this over litigated world. If some slime-ball attorney can dig up the most insane thing to file suit he will in a second so he can make a buck.

This is becoming a police state. You basically have to word everything you say in such a way where you can’t be held liable for anything. If Martin felt bullied he should have stood up for himself and said so, but no it’s his agents job to make sure no one talks bad about him. Just like the guy that gets lung cancer and sues the cigarette company. That guy knew smoking was bad but did it anyway, so it’s not his job to protect himself from bad choices, it’s the legal systems job to protect him from himself.

The concept of personal responsibility is gone my friend. It’s now the lawyers’ job to assign blame and make a buck while doing so.

Why hasn’t Roger “the owners say he’s worth every penny of his $44 million per year compensation package” Goodell yet solved this situation? I mean, if he’s as great as they all claim, shouldn’t he have already?

The Steelers cast such an immense shadow over the league. There’s no wonder why we are so widely envied. We are superior. We have six Lombardis. What do you have ☹? says:
Feb 14, 2014 7:46 PM
If only more teams followed the Steelers’ model.
————————
You are so right because Little Ben is such a model NFL player with his record!!

If you feel like getting sick, go to Deadspin and read the story there. Incognito, Pouncey, Jerry and OL Coach Turner should be strapped to a rocket and fired into the sun for the good of the human race.

1. Stuff like this (harassment) happens in most locker rooms (maybe in this case, it happened a little more).
2. Football players aren’t psychologists. How would they know that Martin had issues like he has. I’m sure they figured he was just a Mama’s boy.
3. Martin should have went up to Incognito (his friend) and tell him, “Hey man, can you cool it with the teasing, etc. Truthfully man, it’s hurting me and I wish you guys would respect this…” I’m sure any man would respect this if their “friend” came to them.
4. Since the investigation delved so much, let’s go back and see if Martin’s father had anything to do with how his sons mental state is. Maybe he was the one who was too busy to be with his son and didn’t take the time to teach him to be a man.
5. Sure the coaches knew what was going on in their locker room. But, this all goes back to #2. People don’t know what mental state other people are in. Sure we need to stop the bullying in the schools. But, this is a NFL locker room and if Martin was too offended, he should have went to the coaches and asked for trade/help.

All this stuff is blown way out of proportion by the media. I’m sure there are many other players who have been harassed, but went about it another way (asked for trade, etc). Not quit, and then blame everyone else.

Only thing the report shows is that Martin is a weak man. One day, he’ll be embarrassed that this even became an issue. When he finally understands what it is to be a man, he will allow no one to disrespect him. Even if you believe it’s someone who will kick your tail, there’s honor in getting your tail kicked. You can look yourself in the mirror. And you’ll get respect. It’s about standing up for yourself. They did it because they knew they could. They can sense weakness like a shark smells blood. These dude are trying to win a football championship, there’s no room for that. You can be who you want, but weakness is unacceptable. That’s why I know Michael Sam will be fine in the NFL, because it’s takes heart and courage to be the first openly gay football player. There’s respect in that. That’s not weak. Even Martin’s dad try to toughen tell him to stand up for himself. The guy has some issues, and I hope he gets some help. One day Martin will wish he handled it a different way, and not thrown his teammates under the bus because he couldn’t cut it.

I know this might come off as some macho rant for a lot of you. But the real men who read this will understand what I’m saying. Because for us, there’s no way I can fathom anyone making us feel disrespected without it being addressed.

Did any one of you preschoolers blaming this all on Martin even read the report?? Never mind…don’t answer…it’s obvious you either A.) Didn’t read the report because you can’t read or B.) You read the report but still find Martin to be at fault because you are nothing but classless monkeys.

You guys should take the time to read the report. I also agree with the recommendation to start at the back and read each section/subsection.

The report says that Pouncey and Jerry were followers not leaders, and seem unlikely to be as bad if they aren’t hanging out with Incognito. But, Pouncey’s claims that they all acted like boy scouts and never uttered a foul syllable are grounds to send him packing. Liars get canned.

Jim Turner’s days in Miami are over. He’ll be lucky to get another NFL job. His lectures on Judas and suggesting “the Judas Fine” helped create an environment where a reasonable person would have been afraid to approach the coaches for help (with problems caused by teammates).

Turner was also directly involved in some truly nasty harassment of an unnamed player. The fact that these guys are well paid doesn’t make it okay to make going to work a miserable experience.

There are other issues with the Dolphins staff creating a hostile work environment. There will be plenty of pink slips next week.

Jonathan Martin is a person who should be behind a desk. The man is not tough enough to play professional football. I’m not defending the players who harassed him, but no man that weighs 320 lbs. should allow this to happen at some point you have to stand up for yourself and not run home to mom and dad.I don’t want to here he went to Stanford so his handling of the situation was different. There are plenty of Stanford Graduates in the NFL who would of handled this situation like a 320 lb man should. GO DOLPHINS!!!

Actually, if you want to use “workplace laws” to describe this – Martin would allege Constructive Discharge forced him to leave – and he would be offered his position back and full pay – with potential damages…….

“The Steelers cast such an immense shadow over the league. There’s no wonder why we are so widely envied. We are superior. We have six Lombardis. What do you have ☹? says:
Feb 14, 2014 7:46 PM
If only more teams followed the Steelers’ model.”
——–
I’m going to type this slowly, so you can understand: The NFL started in 1920, not 1967.
Your 6 Lombardi’s are trumped by Green Bay’s 12 titles, Chicago’s 9 and New York’s 7.

You sound dopey bragging about Lombardis, the Super Bowl was a name to hype the merger. The Yankees, Montreal Canadiens and Boston Celtics don’t count titles after expansion or merger.

The Wells Report most likely only proves that one can never trust Lawyers. Martin’s parents are attorneys and who knows what connections or knowledge they may have about Ted Wells.
This is why they are considering using Lawyers for experiments instead of rats: Lawyers multiply faster than rats, people become less attached to Lawyers than they do to rats. Moreover Lawyers will do certain things that rats would never do…….

Maybe the Fins can organize a weekly Bunko game for the players to help build team unity? Ross needs to wake up and smell the coffee. It’s an NFL locker room for crying out loud not a church picnic. I still can’t believe Philbin has a job! WOW

Why does Ross go out of his way to defend Philbin? Philbin ran the operation, allowed his locker room to get out of control and hasn’t impressed as a head coach. Why does he still have a job?
———————————————————
Because it’s one more glaring case study in how Ross truly has no clue what he’s doing. He’s proven that with literally every move he’s made and every hire since purchasing the team. But for some reason (because he’s incredibly wealthy) die-hard Dolphins fans seem to think that the light bulb is going to go off and miraculously things will get better somehow. They won’t. What is happening is we are witnessing one of the worst and most pathetic ownerships in the history of the NFL and just because he’s made billions in one profession, does not mean he knows what he’s doing in another.

Listen, let me start of by saying that I read all of the texts and all of the nonsense and it’s ridiculous. I would be more embarrassed and humiliated to SAY those things than to hear them said about me. I in no way defend the way Richie Incognito acts.

So let’s agree that RI never should have started treating Martin (and others) this way. Let me ask you a question: How was he supposed to know when to stop? How was he supposed to know Martin was reaching the end of his rope? All of the communication Martin made in this regard was to his friends and family outside of the team. As near as I can tell, and read from the report, Martin just goes to Incongito and says “lay off, man, this stuff is getting to me.”

Now you can say he feared being ostracized, but if he hated what was going on so much that he was practically suicidal, could being frozen out by Incognito and his posse been any worse?

Professional football players, especially offensive linemen, are PAID to be aggressive, nasty and mean. They are not paid to be sensitive, and if some very large guy can’t handle some other very large guy’s getting on his case – maybe he shouldn’t be there. If he is such a wimp that he can’t stand up to some guy getting on his case maybe he should just take his Stanford degree and get a job in the real. world.

New Orleans was penalized with a one year head coach suspension for allowing players to target other players. The same applies here.
—————————————————-
The pathetic irony is Philbin getting suspended for a year would be the second best thing that could happen to the team.

“The Steelers cast such an immense shadow over the league. There’s no wonder why we are so widely envied. We are superior. We have six Lombardis. What do you have ☹? says:
Feb 14, 2014 7:46 PM
If only more teams followed the Steelers’ model.”
——–
I’m going to type this slowly, so you can understand: The NFL started in 1920, not 1967.
Your 6 Lombardi’s are trumped by Green Bay’s 12 titles, Chicago’s 9 and New York’s 7.

You sound dopey bragging about Lombardis, the Super Bowl was a name to hype the merger. The Yankees, Montreal Canadiens and Boston Celtics don’t count titles after expansion or merger.”

Martin did the right thing!!! The only issue I have with him is he should have told Incognito to go …. himself and to knock it off in front of the whole team. Maybe he gets his butt kicked but it would have forced the end especially if he was smart enought to make it a scene in front of all the local media.!
Incognito is a scumbag! Pouncey/Turner as well!
Tough guys acting like grade school bullies… How is that supposed to help the team? Turner is a major idiot that should never get another football or coaching job in the NFL or at any level.
Philbin needs to go how detached could he possibly be? 58 guys is not that hard to monitor.